TELLING DETAILS ABOUT THE DUBAI PORT SALE: John Judis points out that Dubai purchased $9.7 billion of aircraft from Boeing last year. Judis suggests that this -- and not any commitment to principle -- is Bush's real motive for supporting the deal. Even then, Judis doesn't exactly condemn this supposed motive. After all, there is nothing wrong with defending America's best trading partners from their ignorant critics.

On the other side of the spectrum, Robert Novak points out Bill Clinton's surprising intimacy with Dubai Ports World, which stands in marked contrast to Hillary's aggressive efforts to use the deal as a weapon against Bush. I still hesitate to put my full faith and credit in Novak because of his (undeserved?) reputation, but his columns are always interesting. And if his facts are right, this is another classic Clinton moment.